The front doorbell rings, and my heart leaps in my chest. Joey offers to answer it.
Groaning, I drop my face in my hands.Am I seriously nervous over this woman? A woman who has sworn nothing is gonna happen between us?Fucking figures. Not that I need this kind of complication with the court date for my divorce two weeks away. That’s the best reminder that I suck at relationships.
Fuck. I did not just use the R-word right now.
I’m not in a good place to have one yet, not with the truckload of baggage weighing me down at the moment.
This gives me pause because I’ve always been a one-woman kind of guy. Sleeping around with random chicks does nothing for me. If given a choice, I’d always pick something special with one girl over meaningless sex with many.
But is this really something I should be exploring with my kids’ nanny?
Damn. I know how to get myself in messed-up situations.
Female voices come down the hall, and the second I see Tori, I smile. She looks more relaxed, and her face brightens when the kids go barreling into her for a hug.
I open my mouth to say hi, but my brother beats me to it.
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s your sister?”
I bristle at his term of endearment, and he smirks at me. Asshole. But she is gorgeous, even in cutoffs and an old t-shirt. It’s the affection in her eyes for my kids, though, that really hits me. I love how she gives them all her attention.
Tori’s laughing at Cody’s sloppy kisses. “Good. I swear Kat’s giving birth to a giant. Her baby is enormous, but don’t tell her that.”
Logan shivers like he’s about to have a seizure. “Pregnant women scare me. Too many hormones.”
Joey rolls her eyes.
I point to my brother’s best friend. “Tori, this is Josephine. She went to school with Logan and somehow manages to put up with this lazy bag of bones. She helped me out today with the kids so I could get some work done.”
Tori gives her a sweet smile. “I love your hair. It’s beautiful.”
Joey touches her blue locks. “Thanks.Someonetold me I look like a deranged Smurf.” She punches my brother, and he puts her in a headlock with one arm while he scrolls through his phone on the other. She’s still hanging halfway upside down when she points to Tori. “But your hair is,wow. It’s so pretty.”
“Thank you. It needs a trim.”
“I could do it.”
Motioning toward Joey, I explain that she does hair.
“Yeah?” Tori perks up. “How much do you charge? Just to trim the dead ends?”
Joey wiggles her way out of my brother’s choke hold and strokes Tori’s hair gently, taking a moment to study the ends. “I’d do it for free. You know, the friends and family discount.”
“No way. My hair is a pain in the ass. Your arm will fall off by the time you’re done. I have to pay you something.”
“Um.” Joey tilts her head. “How about we trade? You show me how to make this recipe”—she points to her half-eaten plate of dinner—“and I’ll cut your hair.”
Tori leans over to see which leftovers we ate. “You want to learn how to makecarne guisada? Sure. It’s super easy.”
“Dinner was dope, Tor,” my brother says, not looking up from his phone. “I can’t believe you made enough leftovers for the weekend. I think I love you.”
Tori laughs and stoops down to look at a painting Mila made for her. A few minutes later, Tori starts to lug her bag from the hall.
Logan stops her to pick it up. “You pack more than Joey does for two days.”
“I needed to do some laundry, but I didn’t get a chance. That’s okay. I’ll do it next weekend.”
What is she talking about? I get up and take the bag from my brother, whose eyebrows lift. I motion toward the kids, and he smirks again, offering to get them ready for bed. I watch as he and Joey take them down the hall before I return my attention to Tori.
